Perry County Council of the Arts and Sunbury Press sponsor short story anthology

MECHANICSBURG, Pa.— Sunbury Press has releasedStrange Magic, a short story compilation from writers in theA Novel IdeaWorkshop sponsored by Perry County Council of the Arts. Catherine Jordan was the editor.

From PCCA:In the late 1980s, I wrote a nifty little novel and signed on with a veteran agent who peddled it all over New York City.

I papered the wall of my office with scores of rejection letters, licked my wounds, and went on to other pursuits. But I always wondered why my story went nowhere.

Fast forward thirty years. In collaboration with thePerry County Council of the Arts, author Don Helin assembled a stellar faculty of successful, published authors to teachA Novel Idea, a year-long class for aspiring novelists. I signed on for that first year, half to representPCCA, and half hoping I might learn what I did wrong three decades ago.

A Novel Ideadidn’t disappoint. I learned many reasons why my book never got out of the starting blocks, all the time wishing I could have avoided these pitfalls by taking such a course before I ever started writing.

But there was an unanticipated bonus. My 18 classmates demonstrated a gift for the written word that made each session a joy. As they read aloud the fruits of their writing exercises, I marveled at their talent and inspiration. They made me laugh, pulled hard at my emotions, or transported me to places that I had never been.

That is why I was so excited when author and facilitator Catherine Jordan and publisher Lawrence Knorr approached us with the idea of this anthology. I wanted to read the tales that my peers, and those from the class that followed, had to spin. Please relish them with the knowledge that they were written by ordinary people who believed they had a story to tell and had the courage to start writing.